


a fraction of a second

by bezziemates



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, being gay is all fun and games until you realize that you're in love with your best friend, it really be like that sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 13:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16682197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bezziemates/pseuds/bezziemates
Summary: Like any ordinary day, they’re eating lunch. Kara is laughing, nose scrunched up, head tipped back and eyes crinkling at the corners. And just like that, in a fraction of a second, it hits Lena.She’s in love with her best friend.





	a fraction of a second

**Author's Note:**

> friends, gays, countrymen, i present to you my favorite song: kara and lena in high school
> 
> also, this fic was originally intended to be a short 3k-ish fluffy one-shot but evidently, i got carried away (and by carried away i mean that about one-third of this was written at two in the morning, so if it sucks balls, you know why)

The first thing Lena notices when she wakes up is that her bed is bouncing.

“Rise and shine, it’s a brand new day!” A familiar voice chirps.

A groan slips out of Lena’s mouth of its own accord, and she flips around, lying on her stomach and stuffing her face into her pillow. “Go away, Kara.”

She doesn’t need to turn around to see the pout on Kara’s face. “Come on, Lee! We’re going to be late, and it’s pizza day in the cafeteria.”

Lena turns her head, cheek pressing into her pillow. She looks at Kara through the corner of her eye, spotting a bright smile and even brighter eyes staring down at her. “I’d rather sleep in and be late than wake up now and be early,” she deadpans.

She feels Kara’s weight lifting from the bed, then the blonde is kneeling by the side of it, grinning at her. “The early bird gets the worm, and the late bird gets nothing.”

Lena sighs, slowly forcing herself into a sitting position. She rubs her eyes, then glares at Kara. “The second half of your sentence isn’t part of the saying. Also, it’s fine if I get nothing. I’m working on my summer body,” she mutters, voice laced with sarcasm.

“You have a perfect body,” Kara assures casually, moving around the bed and taking a seat in front of Lena. Her lips are still curled up into a grin.

“I hate worms.”

Kara swats her. “Fine. The early bird gets the kale.” She wrinkles her nose. “Honestly, I’d rather be the late bird and get no kale.”

Lena smiles. “That’s the spirit.” Then she realizes that Kara is dressed and ready. She frowns in confusion. “How did you even get into my house?”

“Lillian let me in. She loves me,” Kara says proudly, chest puffing out.

Lena gives her a disbelieving look. “She hates everyone.”

“Maybe you, but not me.” Kara leans forward, pressing a swift kiss to Lena’s cheek. “Go get ready, I’ll drive today.”

Lena sighs, but her face breaks out into a small smile.

“Okay.”

//

Kara lets out a delighted moan, eyes shut as she chews on her pizza. “See, this was totally worth waking up for.”

Lena chews slowly on her own slice of pizza, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Even if I had been late to school, I still could’ve gotten this exact slice of pizza.”

Kara pouts. “You get what I mean.”

Lena laughs, shaking her head. There’s some pizza sauce on the corner of Kara’s lips, and she looks genuinely heartbroken that Lena isn’t playing along with her. Lena leans forward, raising a napkin and wiping the sauce off of Kara’s face.

“You’re such a messy eater,” she accuses, wiping one last time to make sure that all the sauce is cleaned off. It’s not surprising — when Kara is eating good food, she scarfs it down so quickly that it’s impossible to keep her face completely clean. Which Lena finds absolutely adorable, but it also automatically makes it her job to point out when there’s something on Kara’s face.

“Maybe you’re just too neat an eater,” Kara retorts as Lena cleans the sauce off her face, and when Lena retreats her hand, taking a moment to check if it’s all cleaned off, the blonde grins. “Thanks.”

Lena smiles. “You’re welcome. There’s no such thing as ‘too neat an eater’, Kara. Nice try, though.”

“There is too! You’re just jealous.”

Lena laughs. “Of what?”

“You can’t eat as much pizza as I can.”

Lena’s head tilts, lips curling upwards in amusement. “I’m—”

“Working on your summer body, yeah, yeah,” Kara says dully. “That joke is getting kinda old. Besides, with all the kale you eat, your calorie consumption is, like, two calories a day.” Her eyes widen, and she snaps her fingers, pointing at Lena. “Two _kale_ -ories!”

“One bite of pizza contains way more than two calories,” Lena points out, steadily ignoring the terrible pun. “Also, I was going to say that I’m actually capable of eating as much pizza as you. I just choose not to. It’s called a healthy lifestyle. You should try it sometime.”

Kara hums, then puts the last of her pizza slice into her mouth. “You know what they say.”

“‘Live fat, die young’ is not an actual saying.”

Kara sticks her tongue out. “It is to me. I’d rather eat pizza every day and die at twenty than eat kale every day and live to ninety-six.”

“Well, if you die then who am I going to share my kale smoothies with?”

“Lillian,” Kara replies, beaming. “Except that she loves me, so if I die, she’ll be too devastated to have an appetite.”

Lena bites back the laugh threatening to bubble out of her. “What is with you and my mother?”

“We have a bond, Lena,” Kara says emphatically. “Which is good, because when you and I get married, she’ll happily give us her blessing.”

Lena’s eyebrows arch. “We’re getting married? How come I didn’t know this?”

“Because it was supposed to be a surprise,” Kara replies, munching on another slice of pizza. “But since we’re best friends and we tell each other everything, I figured I’d just tell you now.”

“I can’t believe you made all these plans without me,” Lena says, shaking her head.

“You can choose the venue and decor. Since you’re working on your summer body, I’ll do the cake tasting on my own,” Kara replies, smiling.

“In your dreams, Danvers. We’re doing the cake tasting together, for sure.”

“What about your summer body?”

“It’s fall,” Lena deadpans, and Kara laughs. “By the way, isn’t that joke getting kinda old?” Lena asks, eyebrows raised.

“Right, right,” Kara agrees, nodding. “We’ll do the cake tasting together, then.” Then her face breaks out into a goofy smile. “High school sweethearts. Our wedding will be so emotional, even the cake will be in _tiers_.”

Lena closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose, unable to fight a smile. She should be used to Kara’s antics by now, but she’ll never get tired of them — the jokes are so stupid yet so funny, and Lena will never admit it, but it’s moments like this that truly make her day. _Kara_ makes her day.

She can hear Kara laughing uncontrollably, and when she opens her eyes, she’s met with an ethereal sight — Kara’s nose scrunched up, head tipped back, eyes crinkling at the corners with how hard she’s laughing.

Then Lena is filled with a warmth she can’t describe, and there’s a flutter in her chest, and she can’t take her eyes off of Kara.

And just like that, in a fraction of a second, it hits her.

She’s in love.

//

Surprisingly, the knowledge doesn’t change much. Perhaps it’s because she’s always been in love with Kara, but she just never knew it. Then again, she doesn’t know exactly how long she’s had these feelings, or when they started developing in the first place.

When she thinks back on all the times she’s been around Kara, how happy Kara always makes her, how effortless it all is, she wonders how she didn’t notice it sooner.

“Hey, you okay?”

Lena blinks, shaken out of her thoughts, and she turns to see Kara’s concerned eyes searching her face. Then there’s another soft flutter in her chest, and really, _how did I miss it?_

She nods absentmindedly. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” she assures. They’re sitting next to each other on Kara’s bed, their backs resting against the headboard, and she can't stop thinking about it — ‘it’ being her very not-platonic feelings for Kara. Every moment they’ve ever spent together is replaying through her head. Every hello, every goodbye, every hug and every casual (and rather unfortunately platonic) kiss.

It’s so obvious to her now. The warmth that spreads through her when Kara smiles, the way her heart jumps when Kara is physically affectionate, and the way her face breaks out into an involuntary smile whenever she sees Kara.

It’s odd to think that she was so blinded by contentment, to the point where she didn’t even consider the possibility that what she felt for Kara was anything more than platonic.

Finding Kara indescribably beautiful isn’t platonic. Reveling in Kara’s touch isn’t platonic. Wondering what Kara’s lips would taste like, how they would feel against hers, isn’t platonic.

The very fact that she’s currently enjoying the feeling of Kara’s side pressed into hers more than she should, is most definitely _not_ platonic.

She really should have realized this sooner.

“Lee, we’ve been friends since our diaper days, I can tell when you’re lying,” Kara says, eyebrows raised. Her lips stretched into a small smile — an assurance that she’s here if Lena wants to talk about what’s on her mind.

Being in love with Kara is so easy. Kara is easy to love. Perhaps that’s why Lena didn’t realize. Not until they discussed their hypothetical marriage. Which, Lena would be severely disappointed if it isn’t actually going to happen.

_A girl can dream._

“One, please don’t say ‘diaper days’ ever again. We’ve talked about this,” Lena reminds, relishing in the adorable pout that takes over Kara’s face. “Two, I really am fine. I just… have a lot on my mind.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Kara offers, smiling encouragingly, and Lena does want to talk about it. But she can’t talk about it with the very person who’s on her mind — that’d make things very awkward, and she’s not ready to tell Kara something like this. Lena hasn’t even fully comprehended it herself.

Logically speaking, telling Kara wouldn’t be a bad thing. They’ve known each other for so long that Lena knows Kara wouldn’t run away just because of something like this. And that isn’t what she’s worried about.

She’s more worried that this would change everything between them. Once she says it, it’ll be out in the open. She can’t just take it back, or turn back time. It’s out there. And Kara will know, and Lena can’t possibly predict exactly how she’ll react.

She’s uncertain about the consequences of revealing this piece of information. Of confessing her love. And this uncertainty is holding her back. She’s just not able to overcome it. Not yet, anyway.

“Well, I was thinking about that marriage you mentioned earlier today,” Lena says. Which isn’t entirely untrue.

“What about it?” Kara asks, completely unbothered that Lena is pursuing this topic. It was supposed to be a joke (or at least Lena thinks it was?) — and a passing one at that. Yet here Kara is, easily accepting the fact that it’s being brought up again, and actually looking _excited_ at the prospect of talking about it.

Maybe she just thinks this joke is worth expanding.

“You’d look handsome in a suit,” Lena admits, biting her lip at the mental image.

Kara repositions herself, moving to lie across the bed instead. Her head lands right on Lena’s lap, and, as though she never even moved to begin with, she grins up at Lena. “I’d definitely wear a suit. Suits are so much cooler than dresses.”

“Why do you say that?” Lena asks curiously, peering down at Kara. Her heart is racing and her cheeks feel warm and the room is getting hotter by the second, but Kara is also her best friend, and while she’s in slight panic mode right now, she’s also more comfortable around the blonde than she is with anyone else.

So she doesn’t react abnormally. Doesn’t do anything. Just gives Kara a small smile, waiting for her response.

“Imagine going to the bathroom in a wedding dress,” Kara says pointedly, eyebrows raised. “Pants are better. And more comfortable. Besides, blazers make everyone feel empowered.”

Lena laughs. “You _do_ present a convincing argument.”

“Of course I do,” Kara replies, grinning playfully. “I’m your future wife, Lee. I have to get on your level. Logical and convincing arguments are step one.”

“What’s step two?” Lena asks, smiling in amusement.

“You’re good at everything and I’m not, so I was thinking I’d just resort to seducing you with my mediocre looks and insane competitiveness.” Kara shrugs.

“If your looks are mediocre, then everyone else’s looks must be complete shit,” Lena says, raising an eyebrow. “Also, the competitiveness is admittedly cute.”

Kara grins. “Are you saying I’m attractive?”

“Yes.”

At that, Kara’s cheeks tinge pink. It’s unexpected, but not unwelcome — Lena finds that she likes making Kara blush.

But she also did just say that Kara’s attractive, which seems like a lot more of an embarrassing revelation after the rush of being bold is no longer running through her veins.

So she rushes to continue, “The whole school thinks you’re attractive, Kara. Ask anyone.”

“I didn’t know there was a person named Anyone in our school,” Kara replies. She looks like she’s bursting at the seams, biting down the laughter that literally came from her own joke, and Lena just wants to kiss her.

“Your jokes are terrible and you need to stop yourself.”

Kara pouts — not at all helping Lena’s temptation to kiss her. It’s just plain rude. “You’re so mean.”

Lena sighs. “Alright, alright. I meant to say that your jokes are amazing and extremely funny.”

Kara grins, and in an instant, she’s sat up. Then lips are pressed to Lena’s cheek. “Why thank you.” Lena can barely focus on what she said. Her heart is pounding, and she can hear it thudding in her ears. “If you really want to make it up to me, though, you can buy me ice cream.” Kara smiles innocently up at her, and holy shit, Lena loves her more than she’s ever loved anyone.

“Come on then,” Lena says, climbing off the bed and nodding towards the door.

The smile on Kara’s face grows with excitement, and she climbs off the bed, grabbing Lena’s hand and pulling her out the door.

She doesn’t release Lena’s hand until they reach the car.

It’s not at all Lena’s fault that she’s now painfully aware of things like this. It’s her feelings — more specifically, the newfound knowledge of her feelings.

This is what she imagines intense pining to feel like.

//

Kara takes her hand again the moment they exit the car.

It’s casual, and it’s platonic, and it’s so _Kara_. Lena doesn’t even have to do anything. Kara just takes Lena’s hand in hers, lacing their fingers together like it’s second nature.

Unsurprisingly, it is. Kara is more physically affectionate than anyone Lena has ever encountered — not that she has many people to make the comparison with, but either way, she’s seen enough people interact with each other to know that Kara is significantly more physically affectionate than most people.

It’s good because Lena loves being close to her, but it’s also really, really bad, because it makes Lena want more. Not just literally more, but also figuratively — she wants their touches to mean more than just casual, platonic affection.

_That’s the intense pining talking, isn’t it?_

When they enter the ice cream shop — Kara’s favorite one — Kara is still holding her hand, thumb tracing absentminded patterns on her skin, and it’s driving her crazy. She can’t even focus hard enough on anything else to remember what she usually orders, but it doesn’t seem to be important, because Kara is so excited that she orders for Lena too.

Kara gets her order right down to the amount of toppings — a dash of sprinkles and a mountain of crushed Oreo — which isn’t surprising, but it still makes her smile nonetheless.

It’s the little things that fill Lena with the most warmth.

Kara places a quick kiss on her cheek when she pays, even though they came here because it was supposed to be her treat.

Not that she’s complaining.

“Mike asked me out today,” Kara says after they’ve settled down at their table and started on their ice cream.

Lena’s mind immediately goes to the worst case scenario. Why is Kara talking to her about this? Did she say yes? Does she like Mike? _God, that guy is such a douche, Kara would never settle for someone like that._

“I’m not surprised,” Lena says, fighting back a sigh. Kara gives her a quizzical look, and she raises her eyebrows. “We’ve discussed this. You’re objectively one of the most attractive people in our school.”

Kara’s cheeks flush again, and she ducks her head, running a hand through her hair. This is the first time that Lena hasn’t been able to read Kara, hasn’t been able to tell what she’s thinking. It kind of scares her. “I mean, I don’t want someone to ask me out just because they think I’m physically attractive.”

“Would you expect Mike to go for personality?” Lena asks, trying to keep the bite out of her tone. She can feel jealousy bubbling up inside of her — Mike may be the biggest douchebag she’s ever had the pleasure (displeasure, really) of meeting, but at least he has the courage to ask Kara out.

But he’s also vain and has an excessive amount of arrogance for someone with so little to justify it, so it’s probably not the best point of comparison.

“I guess not,” Kara replies, sighing.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you rejected him,” Lena says, actively pushing down the green monster threatening to burst out of her.

“Mike just wants to get into everyone’s pants.” Kara shakes her head in disapproval. “I’d never go out with someone like him.”

“Good, because if you said yes, I would’ve probably called off our wedding. Imagine marrying someone who’d go out with Mike Matthews,” Lena says, face contorting with disgust.

“I’d never cheat on you, anyway,” Kara teases with a wink, putting a scoop of ice cream into her mouth.

Lena laughs, heart racing and cheeks flushing, and _yeah, this is definitely going to be happening a lot from now on._ “Of course you wouldn’t. Pigs would fly before you cheat on anyone.”

“Before I cheat on _you_ , you mean,” Kara replies, eyebrows raised.

Lena nods, clearing her throat. _Why does she have to say things like this?_ “Right.”

“You know, I’m pretty surprised you haven’t dated anyone yet,” Kara quips, ice cream spoon in her mouth and lips pursed thoughtfully. At Lena’s questioning look, she continues, “There’s definitely a line of people waiting to go out with you.”

“No there isn’t,” Lena denies. It’s not a _line_ , per se. She’s been asked out a few times over the past few years, but something always made her feel compelled to say no. She didn’t know what it was, but she figured it’d be wise to trust her gut.

Now she knows what that something was.

She didn’t, and doesn’t, want to date anyone other than Kara.

“There should be,” Kara says, completely seriously. “It’s already senior year,” she reaches over to poke Lena in the arm, grinning, “you should ask someone out.”

Lena almost chokes on her ice cream. “We both know I don’t have the courage to do something like that.” She’d never have the courage to ask anyone out, let alone Kara. She and Kara are so close, have been so platonically close for so long that it’d probably be at least a little weird to ask her out on a date.

Something tells Lena that if they ever started dating, they’d transition into it seamlessly.

_Then again, my opinion could be slightly (very) biased._

Kara shrugs. “You’re charming enough. Courage isn’t something you have or don’t have, it’s something you muster. I think you could do it if you really wanted to.”

Lena looks intently at her ice cream, steadily avoiding meeting the gaze that’s burning a hole into the side of her head. “It’d be weird to just go up to someone and ask them out on a date.” She puts a scoop of ice cream into her mouth. “Besides, I’d never cheat on you,” she adds, shrugging.

When she looks at Kara, there’s a look in the blonde’s eyes that she can’t read.

She gives Kara a small smile. “Maybe _you_ should ask someone out.” _Me. You should ask me out. Because I’m too much of a coward to ask you out._

Kara ducks her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Then she looks at Lena, lips curled up into a small smile.

“Maybe.”

Lena has no idea what is happening, but the look in Kara’s eye is not at all readable, and she really, really, doesn’t want Kara to go out with anyone with other than her, but Kara deserves to be happy.

Kara deserves to be happy, and Lena will give anything to make sure she is.

There’s a voice in the back of her head urging her to ask Kara out. To test the waters, to entertain the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she has a chance with Kara.

But she pushes it away — she’s simply not ready. And she doesn’t know if or when she will ever be, but she just knows that right now, she’s not ready to put everything on the line.

So she just smiles back at Kara, and puts another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

//

It’s an unpleasant surprise to have Mike come up to her.

There’s only a short break in between classes, and typically, Kara would be here to have a short chat before the next period begins, but her next class is across the school, and Lena doesn’t want her to have to sprint just to get to class on time.

So, Kara isn’t here to chat with her right now, and that was perfectly okay until Lena felt a presence beside her, and turned to see Mike standing there.

“Hey. You’re Lena, right?” he asks. Lena supposes she understands why some people could find him charming. He has the stereotypically gelled hair and the tall, muscular build and not-completely-ugly eyes. But Lena doesn’t find him charming. She never has.

The knowledge that he asked Kara out only serves to make her find him less appealing to talk to.

“Yes,” Lena answers curtly, holding her books by her side with one of her hands. The other stuffs itself into the pocket of her jacket, clenched into a fist.

“I’m Mike,” he introduces, “you probably already know that.” Then he laughs, and Lena dislikes him already. _Who the fuck assumes that someone they’ve never spoken to knows who they are?_

“Can I help you?” Lena asks, trying to cut to the chase. She and Mike share the same period after this, and at this rate, they’re both going to be late.

“Yes, actually,” Mike says, clearing his throat. “I wanted to ask you about Kara.”

Lena had already predicted it from the start. There’s no way that Mike would just come up to her, out of nowhere, without an ulterior motive. They’ve shared classes since freshman year, but he’s never spoken a word to her, and it’s definitely not a coincidence that he’s talking to her the day after Kara rejected him.

“What about her?” Lena questions, raising an eyebrow.

“Is she interested in anyone right now?”

“I don’t know, we don’t typically discuss interests,” Lena says. “She’s never mentioned you, if that’s what you’re asking,” she adds. And it’s a little mean and unwarranted, but damn it, she’s jealous, and she’s trying her level best not to punch Mike in the face right now.

Besides, it’s not untrue — Kara isn’t interested in him. And it’s not just Lena who wants Mike to stop pursuing Kara, Kara would probably be annoyed as well, if he kept pestering her.

“Do you know what kind of guy she’s into?” Mike asks, leaning against the locker beside Lena’s. They’re definitely going to be late.

“We’re going to be late to math,” Lena deadpans, and Mike pulls out his phone, checking the time.

“Oh, shit. We’ll just continue this conversation another time, then?”

Lena makes a non-committal noise, then closes her locker and walks off.

//

She and Mike both get detention for being late to class.

During lunch, the detention slip sits beside her tray, and when Kara comes up to their table with her food, her eyes fall on the piece of paper.

The blonde sits down, then takes the slip of paper and looks over it. Her eyes come up to meet Lena’s, and her head tilts. “You were late to class?”

“You can blame Mike Matthews for that,” Lena says, munching on her toast. He didn’t even apologize for making them late to class — she doesn’t expect any less, honestly. The douche doesn’t give a shit about anyone other than himself.

“What happened?” Kara asks, frowning.

“He came up to me and asked me if you’re interested in anyone, and what kind of guy you’re into.” Lena rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve been sharing classes with this dude since freshman year, and the first conversation we have is about him getting rejected by my best friend. Honestly, does he have a shred of dignity?”

Kara smiles, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Pretty worked up over there.” She takes her slice of toast and places it on Lena’s plate. “Here, cheer up, okay?” When Lena looks at her in shock — Kara _never_ shares her food — she laughs. “You need it more than I do.”

Lena gives her a small smile. “Thanks.”

Kara grins. She takes back the slice of toast and takes a large bite, then puts it back on Lena’s plate. “I love toast,” she says, as way of explanation. Lena isn’t even surprised. “The rest is yours. Promise.”

Lena chuckles, shaking her head. “You can just have it if you want it, you know.” Kara can eat a horse and not gain a single gram of weight. Lena knows because she’s seen Kara without a shirt several times over the course of their friendship, courtesy of the blonde’s lack of self-consciousness around her.

And while Kara’s got a lot going for her outside of her physical appearance, Lena can also appreciate her abs.

Kara shakes her head. “Nope. It’s yours now. What’s got you so riled up, anyway? I mean, I know detention sucks, but the last time you were genuinely angry was when Alex put a whole bottle of salt in your coffee. Even then, you weren’t as upset as you are now.”

Lena shakes her head, looking down at the detention slip with contempt. “Nothing. Mike just really annoys me.” Technically, it’s true. Mike really does annoy her. And he annoys her because he’s trying to get into the pants of her best friend, who she happens to be in love with. Not that Kara needs to know that last part.

“We both know you’ve got an insane tolerance level,” Kara says, grinning a little. “What sets Mike apart from any other annoying person you’ve had to tolerate?”

“I don’t appreciate him trying to get intel so he can slither his way into your pants,” Lena states emphatically. “You already said no, and he’s still pursuing it. Not only that, he also brought me into it, and now I have to sit in detention with him after school. So sue me for being irritated.”

Kara’s silent for a moment. Then her face breaks out into a smile. And it makes Lena’s heart flutter — Kara’s eyes are sparkling, and she’s smiling from ear to ear, and Lena honestly, genuinely wants to kiss her. She’s going insane.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Lena asks self-consciously.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your protective side?” Kara asks, still smiling, and Lena’s heart rate picks up immediately at her words. _More like jealous side._

“I’m not being protective, I’m just hating on a douchebag,” Lena defends, cheeks flushing. _If the ground would like to open up and swallow me whole, now would be as good a time as any._

“You’re looking out for me. And you’re hating on him because you’re pissed off. And you’re pissed off because he’s making me into a conquest,” Kara says, grinning. “You’re being protective over me.”

“What— I—” Lena sputters.

“It’s okay, it’s a good thing. I’m really lucky that you’re looking out for me,” Kara assures, playful grin turning into a sincere smile. “I’ll visit you in detention. Cross my heart.” She draws a small cross over her heart with her pointer finger.

Lena looks at her, eyebrows raised. “I’m going to be in detention, Kara, not prison.”

Kara shrugs. “Same thing. Even more so when Mike Matthews is going be in it with you.”

Lena wrinkles her nose. “Don’t remind me.”

“Well, next time he asks you about me, you should remind him that you’re already engaged to me,” Kara says casually, taking a sip of her orange juice.

Lena almost chokes on her toast.

_This girl will be the death of me._

//

Mike taps a very annoying beat on the table.

It’s very, very annoying. For some reason, he and Lena are the only ones in detention today. And because it’s just the two of them, the teacher who is supposed to be supervising had given up too, exiting the room ten minutes in and leaving them to their own devices.

There’s no sound in the room other than the uncoordinated, wild beat-pattern-thing (if it can ever be considered a pattern to begin with) Mike’s tapping on his table, and the occasional small sound coming from his mouth, as though he feels some compulsive need to fill the silence.

Lena really wants to tell him to stop, and just shut up. But then she thinks of Kara, and how while Kara would probably find that a little funny, she’d mostly want Lena to be nice. Because that’s who Kara is. She’s nice, and Lena loves that about her.

Lena loves _her_.

_Since when did I become such a fucking sap?_

Before she can have an internal debate with herself on how much the knowledge of being in love with Kara has changed her, the door to the room opens, and she’s greeted with the sight of Kara poking her head in.

Her eyes immediately fall on Lena, and she smiles, walking into the room. Mike stops tapping his stupid beat-thing the moment Kara appears at the door (praise the gay gods), but Kara doesn’t pay him any mind as she slides into the chair beside Lena’s.

Lena isn’t going to lie and say that it doesn’t make her feel good, because it does.

Kara ignoring Mike and only caring about her makes her feel really good. And she knows she shouldn’t be this spiteful, this jealous, but she can’t help it.

She’s trying her best to suppress it. She’s really trying.

“Where’s the teacher?” is what Kara says first, and Lena laughs.

“Left ten minutes in. Even she couldn’t be bothered anymore,” she replies, shrugging.

“Kara, hey,” Mike’s voice cuts into their quiet conversation, and Lena clenches her fist, subtly taking a deep breath. If this goes on, she’s actually going to punch him in the face. No one will be able to stop her from inflicting physical harm onto this son of a—

“Hello, Mike,” Kara greets, giving him a tight smile. God, even Kara sounds like she’s in pain. Then there’s silence, and after a few moments, Kara turns back to Lena. “If there’s no teacher, we should just leave.”

Lena’s eyes widen. “Kara, we can’t do that. What if she comes back?” She’s never been one to break rules, but judging from how convincing Kara is — rather Lena’s decided inability to say no to her — she’ll probably be breaking some today.

“She won’t.” And Kara sounds so sure about it, but Lena really, really doesn’t want to break the rules. She hates getting into trouble, not because she’s afraid of it, but because it’s a complete waste of time to sit down and tolerate a lecture from a teacher about the importance of good conduct.

“How do you know that?” Lena questions.

“Lee, she left ten minutes in. She’s probably out on a Tinder date,” Kara replies, grinning a little, and damn it, Lena can never say no to her. She doesn’t even know why she persisted this long. She should’ve just agreed to leave from the start. At least it means that she won’t have to be in the same room as Mike any longer.

“You’re probably right,” Lena agrees, laughing.

“Speaking of dates,” Mike cuts in, and Kara sighs almost inaudibly — it’s so soft that only Lena can hear it.

“Mike, I already said no,” Kara interjects. “Please stop asking.”

“Can’t you just give me a chance?” Mike asks, infuriated.

And it all happens so quickly. One moment Lena is trying to tune out the sound of Mike’s annoying voice, and the next moment, Kara intertwines her hand with Lena’s, and she darts forward, pressing a lingering kiss to Lena’s cheek. “Lena and I are engaged,” she says, completely nonchalant.

Lena simply watches the scene unfold. Mike frowning in confusion, Kara shrugging, Mike’s frown deepening. “What the fuck?” he says. “Lena, you didn’t mention anything about this earlier,” he adds, disbelieving.

“I don’t like talking about private matters with people who have no business sticking their nose into them,” she says, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she can actually think through what she’s saying.

“Anyway, Lena and I have to go, but best of luck with your future endeavors,” Kara says, overly enthusiastic. And then Lena is being pulled out of her seat and out of the room.

The moment they reach Kara’s car, the blonde bursts out laughing. “Did you see the look on his face? Gold.”

Lena forces a laugh. “Right, yeah.” She’s still reeling from what happened, and it’s not Kara’s fault at all, but this whole engagement joke is going pretty far, and it’s messing with her head. She doesn’t want to ruin this joke for Kara, but every time it’s mentioned, all she can picture is the future with Kara that she so desperately wants.

But the reality of the situation is that they’re best friends, and nothing more.

“You okay?” Kara asks, laughter dying out the moment she sees the forced smile on Lena’s face. Lena really can’t hide anything from her.

_Except maybe the fact that I’m in love with her._

“Kara, the engagement joke was funny when it was just between us,” Lena says, biting her lip. “But you just told someone else that we’re engaged. And now he thinks we’re _actually_ engaged.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Kara asks, confused. “It’ll get him off my back. That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yes, but he may tell other people that we’re engaged,” Lena points out. “And then they may tell their friends, and the whole school could think we’re engaged.”

“Let them think what they want to think,” Kara says, giving Lena a reassuring smile. “I don’t care what people think about us.” Then she sees the look on Lena’s face, and her expression turns more serious. “If I upset you, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She looks so sincere and so earnest, and her eyebrows are scrunched together really adorably and damn it, Lena can’t stay mad at her.

“It’s fine,” Lena says, waving a dismissive hand.

Kara steps closer to her, brows still knitted with concern. “It doesn’t look fine.”

“Kara, it’s really okay. I just… I wasn’t prepared, that’s all.”

“And I shouldn’t have done that without asking you first,” Kara says. There’s a lot of eye contact going on right now and Lena definitely isn’t prepared for this. Lena isn’t prepared for a lot of things. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lena says, looking down. Kara’s eyes are very naturally intense, and it’s kind of a lot, and she just needs to look away for a moment. Perhaps remember how to breathe while she’s at it.

Then there are fingers on her chin, tipping her head back up, and her eyes meet Kara’s, and _holy shit this feels like a fucking rom-com._

“It’s really not. But I know you’re going to keep saying it’s okay, so I’ll just make it up to you instead,” Kara says, smiling. Their faces are only a few inches apart, and Kara’s breath barely brushes against her lips, but even this minimal sensation sends shivers running down her spine.

“You don’t have to,” Lena replies. She’s trying very hard to form coherent sentences, but most of her energy is currently focused on forcing her eyes to stay on Kara’s instead of allowing them to dip down and glance at her lips.

“Actually, I do.” Kara grins, leaning down to kiss Lena on the cheek. “Come on, let’s go.”

Lena only remembers how to breathe seven seconds after Kara moves away to get into the car.

//

“I’ve got a plan,” Kara announces. She’s lying down on her bed while Lena sits with her back resting against the headboard, reading a novel. She stops reading at Kara’s words, eyes moving to meet Kara’s.

“What is it?” Lena asks, unable to suppress a smile when she sees Kara’s excited grin.

“You should stay for dinner. And then we’ll have a movie-marathon-sleepover-thing tonight. It’ll be great.”

Lena hums. “Sure.”

“Good, because while you were in the shower earlier, I may or may not have asked Lillian if you could stay over. So it’d be kind of humiliating for both you and me if you were to reject me and go home,” Kara says, wrinkling her nose.

“My, my, Kara Danvers,” Lena drawls, eyebrows raised. “So sure I would say yes?”

“I was just going on the blind faith that you accepted my apology and still love me as much as you did before all this drama with Mike,” Kara admits, smiling sheepishly.

“Our friendship isn’t perfect by any means,” Lena says, humming. “If it was, that would be creepy. We’re bound to have some form of conflict, at some point or another. Frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Well she would have it one other way, but then it wouldn’t be a friendship anymore.

“I can’t believe you’re calling our engagement a friendship,” Kara says, pouting. “You really know how to hurt a girl’s feelings.”

“Right, sorry. I meant _engagement_.” At this rate, Lena isn’t going to survive till adulthood. She’ll die early from all the intense heart palpitations and the heavy amounts of stress.

“Yes, that’s better. Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but Lillian said yes right off the bat. I didn’t even have to use any of my convincing arguments. She loves me,” Kara concludes, grinning widely.

Lena laughs, shaking her head. “Well, I’m glad that you and my mother get along well.”

Kara gasps, sitting up. “Are you finally conceding to the fact that your mother loves me and wants me to be her daughter-in-law?” Lena doesn’t know where the daughter-in-law part came from. She has absolutely no idea why Kara is so persistent with this marriage joke.

Even the summer body joke only lasted a few days before it got old. And at first, Lena was embarrassed about bringing up their hypothetical marriage, but now, Kara is the one who’s constantly talking about it.

They have inside jokes all the time, and this is perfectly normal, but where did this one even come from? And how did it escalate to this point?

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Lena replies, amused. “Maybe I’m just so tired of arguing with you about this that I’m letting you win.”

“That’s still agreeing with me,” Kara counters, lips curling upwards. “No take-backs.”

Lena wouldn’t even be surprised if her mother was fond of Kara. Everyone loves Kara. Lena can’t imagine a life without Kara in it. Perhaps it’s because they’ve been friends since childhood — even then, she can’t imagine a future without Kara in it. She wouldn’t want to.

Lena shakes her head, chuckling. “Whatever floats your boat.”

Kara pumps her fist. “Yes!”

Then Lena’s laughing, and Kara’s joining in not long after, and Lena falls just a little more in love.

//

“You’ll never get tired of High School Musical, will you?” Lena asks, laughing as Kara shuts her laptop, getting off the bed to set it on her desk.

“Is that even a question?” Kara replies, returning to the bed and lying on her back. She looks up at Lena, who sits cross-legged, her back hunched forward slightly. Lena takes a moment to admire the sight in front of her — hooded eyes, and lips curled into a lazy (yet also excited, somehow) smile.

“Not really,” Lena admits, smiling. “I do think that it can set a very unrealistic expectation for high school students, though.”

“I agree,” Kara says, completely serious and nodding in agreement. “Like, what are the chances that everyone’s going to burst perfectly into song and synchronized dancing?”

Lena laughs. “I was talking about Troy and Gabriella, and their completely unrealistic love story.”

Kara grins. “Yeah, that too.” She looks up at Lena, eyes bright and curious. “Why do you think their story is unrealistic?”

There are so many aspects of Troy and Gabriella’s love story that are unrealistic, Lena doesn’t even know where to start. Maybe she’s just jealous, because they have a happy ending, and she’s too afraid to even pursue the happy ending she craves for herself.

“Everything fell into place for them,” Lena says, shrugging. “That kind of thing doesn’t happen in real life. Such lucky coincidences are one in a million.”

Kara hums. “I suppose we’re lucky, then.”

Lena thinks, for a second, that she probably heard Kara wrongly. But then she looks down at Kara, the blonde’s gaze sincere and content, and Lena knows she heard her right. “Why?”

Kara’s lips stretch slightly, forming a small smile. “Many reasons. Everything kind of fell into place for us, wouldn’t you agree? We met each other as kids, we’ve been best friends since then, and now we’re happily engaged.” Kara’s tone is light, but she says it like it’s true. And Lena wonders when this joke started to be taken seriously.

There’s only so much she can handle, and there’s no way she’ll sit around and joke about being engaged to Kara over and over again until before she knows it, Kara’s happily engaged to someone else, and Lena’s nothing but her best friend.

Which is ironic in itself, because being Kara’s best friend isn’t nothing — rather, it’s everything. Perhaps that’s why Lena is so scared to say something. Change is scarier than she thought it’d be, and now that she’s come face-to-face with the possibility of it, she doesn’t know what to do.

“Kara, what’s going on?” Lena asks, frowning slightly.

Kara stares curiously at her. “What do you mean?”

“What’s with this engagement joke? I mean, it was funny when we first talked about it, and I know we bring up inside jokes all the time, but this is— it’s not the same. The way you talk about it— I just— it’s starting to sound less like a joke and more like… I don’t know,” she rambles, running a hand through her hair and ducking her head.

“If it bothers you, I can stop,” Kara offers quietly.

Lena looks at her, seeing sad eyes and lips curled downwards. She sighs. Kara doesn’t even mean to make her feel bad, but hurting Kara makes her feel ten times worse than Kara herself probably feels.

“It’s not— it’s not that it bothers me. I just want to know what’s going on. It’s all so weird that I can’t even put it into words,” Lena says, sighing.

Kara’s silent for a few long moments. And Lena can’t hear anything except her own breaths and her stuttering heartbeat. Two days into knowing she’s in love with Kara, everything’s already spiraling out of control, and she’s trying so hard to keep it all together, but joking about _being engaged_ certainly isn’t going to help the situation.

“It’s a concept, isn’t it?” Kara asks, so softly that Lena barely catches what she’s saying.

“What is?” Lena asks, brows furrowed in confusion.

Kara steadily avoids meeting her eyes — something she never, if not very rarely, does. “Us being engaged.”

Lena doesn’t even know what to say. Her mind is racing, and everything Kara says has a million possible meanings, and it’s making it even more difficult for her to work through this. “What— Kara, what are you talking about?”

“I don’t know,” Kara breathes out. Her gaze meets Lena’s, confused and a little wild, and for the first time, Lena doesn’t know how to reassure her, or help her sort this out, or make her feel better. “I have no idea, Lee.”

They’re both silent for a long moment, then Lena sighs. “We’re best friends, Kara. And we’ve known each other a long time. You know me better than anyone else does. So, yeah, I guess it’s a concept.” She can admit that much. It’s a concept, for sure. She can easily imagine being engaged to Kara. Maybe not now, but in the future. They have a connection that Lena’s never had with anyone else, and she knows that it’s not worth throwing away without even giving it a shot.

Maybe, just maybe, she will. Just not today.

Kara still doesn’t say anything. Lena can tell that she has a lot on her mind, things she has to sort out for herself. Things that Lena probably shouldn’t hear, for now. Not until Kara’s more sure about what she wants.

And it dawns on Lena, then, what’s happening. There is now a possibility that her feelings are reciprocated, that she’s not alone in this.

It doesn’t affect her as much as she thought it would. She’d thought that the mere possibility of Kara returning her feelings would make her mind race and her heart palpitate. Instead, though, a sense of calm washes over her. And there’s the same warmth that she always feels around Kara, the same flutter in her chest, the same goofy smile she can’t suppress whenever she sees Kara’s happy.

It feels a little like contentment, and a lot like falling in love all over again.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep,” Lena says softly, moving to lie down under the covers.

Kara smile gratefully at her, climbing under the blanket and reaching over to the nightstand to switch off the lamp.

In the dark, Lena can see the outlines of Kara’s face, and reaches a hand out to touch her cheek. It takes her a moment to make a decision, and before she can lose her courage, she leans forward, placing a kiss on Kara’s forehead.

She retreats back to her own pillow and sighs quietly. “I’m sorry for questioning you.”

Kara shakes her head, and Lena can see her lips curl into a small smile. “You have nothing to apologize for. It made me think about some things. I think it’s a good thing you brought it up.”

“Don’t think too much,” Lena whispers. “I know we don’t really talk about this a lot, but no matter what happens, I’ll always be here for you. In any capacity you need me.”

“I could say the same for you.” There’s a short pause, then Kara speaks again. “Thanks, Lee.”

Lena smiles. “Anytime,” she replies. “Good night.”

“Good night.” There’s a smile in Kara’s voice, and something in the air between them has definitely changed, but Lena can’t place it, not exactly.

When it comes to Kara, perhaps change is more exhilarating than scary.

//

Lena wakes up with a body pressed to her back, and an arm draped over her waist.

It doesn’t take more than a split second for her to remember exactly what transpired last night — she can still feel Kara’s conflicted eyes on hers, can still feel the unspoken questions lingering in the air. _What happens now? What comes next?_

She doesn’t know how much time has passed until Kara stirs, but it doesn’t feel like enough — there’s so much to sort out, so much to think over.

Then the arm around her waist disappears, and Lena turns around to look at Kara. She’s met with a soft gaze staring back at her, and maybe this isn’t as complicated as she thinks it is. Maybe she just needs to take things as they are, take things as they come.

“Morning,” Kara mumbles, sitting up and stretching. “You’re surprisingly awake for someone who would forgo pizza just to sleep in.”

Lena sits up with a laugh, running a hand through her hair and moving it out of her face. “Being late to school isn’t the same as being late to lunch period, dork,” she replies.

Kara wrinkles her nose. “It’s the principle of it, Lee, come on. Keep up with the program and play along.” Lena would play along with Kara any day, but their silly quarrels are kind of the pinnacle of their friendship. It’s what makes talking to Kara so much fun. The way Kara easily counters everything Lena says, her arguments always accompanied by a grin, is admittedly very, very attractive.

“Or, I could just prove you wrong,” Lena replies, smiling. “Pizza always makes your arguments irrational. You’re blinded by your love for it,” she states, shrugging.

Kara’s jaw drops, and she looks more offended than ever. “Lena Luthor, how _dare_ you?”

Lena chuckles. “How dare I what?”

“How dare you throw my weakness right in my own face!” Kara says, punctuating her statement by slapping the bed.

Lena snorts. “Right, I’m just so despicable.”

Kara points an accusing finger at her. “Precisely. I won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect, how can you treat your—” she cuts herself off, her playful smile dropping in a matter of seconds. Then she clears her throat. “Best friend like that,” she continues quietly.

Lena frowns. “Kara.”

“I’m sorry, this is all really weird and I’m trying to un-weird it because you and I are never weird, but as you can probably tell, it’s not working out. I swear I’m really trying here but I don’t know what to do—”

“Kara.”

“—and I don’t want there to be anything weird between us, but I feel like things are weird—”

“Kara.”

“—and I made them weird last night, and—”

“Kara!” Kara’s mouth shuts at Lena’s exclamation. Lena sighs. “Please stop freaking out. It’s making me freak out. Also, the engagement joke isn’t off limits. I asked you about it because I wanted to clarify the escalation of it.”

“Okay.” Kara nods, almost to herself. “Okay. I’ll stop freaking out.”

Lena gives her a small smile. “That would be ideal. You looked like you had a lot on your mind last night. Do you wanna talk about it?”

Kara clears her throat, looking down. “Kind of. But not right now, because I still have to sort a few things out, and we’re going to be late.” She points to Lena’s house, which is right opposite her window. “You should probably head home to get ready.”

Lena eyes her for a moment, then nods. “Okay. I’ll drive today.” There’s a part of her that knows Kara will be too distracted to drive. She may not be able to read what Kara’s thinking about, but she knows her best friend well enough to know when she needs time to just think, and not have to focus on anything else.

Kara smiles gratefully. “Okay.”

//

Mike comes up to Lena again between classes.

_He just never stops, does he?_

“I’m not here to ask you for intel about Kara,” he says, clearing his throat. His hands are stuffed nervously into his pockets, and quite frankly, it’s a very strange sight. Lena has never seen him anything less than arrogant. She can’t tell if this side of Mike is refreshing, or concerning. Truthfully, she didn’t think there was much depth beneath all that vanity.

“Okay,” Lena says, giving him a curt nod.

“You’re right. Your private matters are not anyone’s business. And they’re definitely not mine.”

Lena blinks. Is she hearing him wrong? Is he actually admitting that he overstepped? _Has the day finally come?_

“I’m sorry if I was a nuisance to you both. And I know that your… engagement is private, so I won’t tell anyone about it,” Mike adds. Which, to begin with, it goes unspoken that he shouldn’t. But then again, it’s Mike, so maybe Lena should be grateful for this reassurance.

“You’re forgiven,” Lena says. She doesn’t know what else to say. Should she lecture him? But even _she_ wouldn’t want to sit through a lecture about life lessons and moral values, and she wouldn’t wish that on anyone, probably not even someone like Mike.

“Thank you.” A few moments pass, then Mike gives her a single nod. “That would be all. I’ll see you around.”

_Hopefully not, but okay._

Then he walks off, and Lena heaves a sigh of relief — she doesn’t have to think up a response.

_Thank the gay gods._

//

“Mike did something right for once,” Lena says as Kara puts her tray onto their table, taking a seat opposite her.

Kara bites into her apple. “What happened?”

“He came to look for me again just now,” Lena states. “He apologized to us. Well, to me, but it was meant for the both of us. And he said he wouldn’t tell anyone about our engagement.”

Kara blinks. “Oh.”

“I still think you deserve an apology directly from him, but it’s Mike, so I guess we should just take what we can get.”

“Well, at least he apologized,” Kara says, laughing a little. “Now we don’t have to worry about our, um, engagement spreading, or anything like that.” It’s obvious that Kara is still uncomfortable with talking about their hypothetical engagement — she’s been like this ever since last night.

It kind of makes Lena wonder if bringing it up was a mistake. Maybe she should have just played along and not said anything. She’s never seen Kara like this — she doesn’t know what exactly ‘this’ is, but she’s never seen Kara act this way.

Kara has never been this uncomfortable with a joke. And she’d only been uncomfortable when Lena hinted at her own discomfort about it. So, Kara’s probably uncomfortable because she doesn’t want to make Lena uncomfortable, which makes the whole thing very depressing.

It doesn’t have to be this depressing, so why aren’t they talking about it and dispeling all of this weird underlying sadness?

They could talk about it, but Kara doesn’t seem like she wants to. And Lena would never force her. But they _do_ need to have this conversation.

“Alright, come on, talk to me.”

Kara stops chewing. “What?”

“Talk to me. Tell me what’s on your mind. You want to un-weird this, right? Well, right now this is weird to me because it’s weird to you. So you need to tell me what’s up.”

Kara swallows her food. “I mean, I’ve thought about it.” Lena waits for her to continue, but she doesn’t say anything else.

“Okay, what did you think about?” she prods.

“This whole engagement joke,” Kara says, sighing. “I don’t know how it escalated to this point. And I want to talk to you about it, but my mind is a jumbled mess right now.”

“Well, why is it a jumbled mess? What makes this so messy for you?”

“I don’t know,” Kara admits, shaking her head. “I’ve been thinking about why I turned Mike down—”

“That’s probably because he’s a douche.”

Kara smiles at that. “You’re right.” Then she clears her throat, becoming more serious. “But it’s not about Mike. I would’ve turned anyone else down.”

“Oh.”

“But not— I mean, if you— I wouldn’t have— um…” Kara trails off, biting her lip. Her fingers tap a nervous beat on the table. She’s silent for a while, trying to work up to whatever she wants to say.

Lena places a hand on hers, halting her nervous tapping. “We can talk about this after school. Or tomorrow. Or in a year. We don’t have to talk about it now.”

“After school,” Kara promises. “We’ll talk about it after school.”

Lena nods. “After school, then.”

She looks up from her tray to see Kara giving her a smile, eyes unreadable, like they have been for the past couple of days.

She doesn’t know what to make of any of this, but she knows that Kara is way more troubled than she is. She may be doing some very intense, hardcore pining, but at least she’s sure about her feelings. But Kara… she doesn’t know what’s going on with Kara.

She wants to know. Not just to satisfy her curiosity, but also because it pains her to see Kara this conflicted about something. It’s almost as though this consumes Kara’s every thought.

_After school. We’ll talk about this after school._

_Okay. Okay._

//

Kara flops onto her bed. “Sometimes the inevitability of death really gets to me. Like, can you imagine it? Eventually, you’re going to experience what death feels like. Eventually, _I’m_ going to experience what death feels like.”

Lena moves to sit beside her, eyebrows raised in amusement. “I suppose it can be a little scary to think that you’ll leave everything you know behind.”

“What do you think happens after we die?” Kara asks, looking up at her.

Lena hums thoughtfully. “To be honest, I really don’t know. I guess a part of me hopes there’s an afterlife, but it’s hard to believe it exists.”

“Lee,” Kara says quietly.

Lena looks at her intently, waiting for her to continue.

“So far, we’ve spent most of our lives together,” Kara says.

Lena nods. “Yes, it’s hard to forget it because you keep saying ‘diaper days’, and a phrase as awful as that will forever be etched into my memory. It’s a battle scar.”

Kara grins. “Now you’re the one saying it, not me.”

“Right,” Lena says, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. “I blame it on you.”

Kara laughs. “I’ll take the blame. It’s nice to know that I have an influence on you.”

“We’re best friends, of course you have an influence on me,” Lena replies. As a matter of fact, Kara has more influence on her than anyone else does. Kara’s opinion is the one she values the most. Kara is the person she values the most.

_I am such a fucking cheeseball._

_I can’t believe I just said cheeseball. It’s all Kara’s fault. Kara and her stupid influence._

“Best friends,” Kara echoes, nodding. Her expression is almost solemn.

“You’re acting weird again,” Lena observes. Kara sits up at that, moving to sit in front of her. Which means that they’re probably going to talk about it — whatever ‘it’ is. Honestly, Lena’s been waiting to talk about this since last night. She’s been waiting to talk about this since she first found out she was in love with Kara.

Well, maybe not the very moment she found out. It was a very intense moment.

And after everything that’s happened thus far, the realization that she’s in love with Kara feels like it happened an eternity ago. But in actual fact, it’s only been three days.

“I’ve been acting weird all day, I know,” Kara says, running a hand through her hair. Lena gives her a look, and she wrinkles her nose. “And last night, too. I know.”

“Maybe I should have waited to bring it up,” Lena says, exhaling. “But it escalated so far, I just— I had to.”

Kara nods. “It’s fine. You’re right, I took it pretty far. I blurred the line between joking and being serious, and I… blurred the lines of our friendship.”

Lena looks down, her hands fiddling in her lap. “Yeah, you kinda did.”

“I meant what I said,” Kara says softly. She waits for Lena to look at her before she continues, “When I said it was a concept. You and me.”

A lump forms itself in Lena’s throat. And she wants to say something, but her mind is racing a mile a minute and she can’t form a coherent sentence right now. Even if she could, whatever she wants to impulsively blurt out is congealing in her throat.

“I thought about it a few times,” Kara admits, biting her lip. She ducks her head, avoiding Lena’s gaze. “It was a passing thought. Sometimes we were just hanging out, and I wondered what it’d be like if we were more than just best friends.”

“Oh.”

“The thought never went anywhere. And then suddenly there was a joke about our hypothetical marriage, and at first I didn’t think anything of it. But the more we talked about it, the more I thought about it seriously. About us. About there _being_ an us,” Kara explains, clearing her throat.

Lena’s heart is palpitating more than it has ever palpitated before, but she doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know what to do, so she lets Kara speak.

“Last night, and today, I thought about everything. The joke that turned into a not-joke, why I turned Mike down, well, why I would turn anyone down — anyone other than you, that is — and why everything seemed so messy.”

Kara looks so sincere and so bashful, and Lena really, really wants to kiss her right now.

Which is probably a little inappropriate, considering the fact that they’re supposed to be having a serious conversation. But she’s been waiting for this for who knows how long, and _desperately craving_ this for the past three days, and now that this is finally happening, the temptation she feels to kiss Kara is growing by the second.

“It’s not as complicated as I thought it was. It was messy because I was confused about what I was feeling towards you. For you? I don’t know.”

“Both are fine,” Lena assures.

“Right. Okay.” Kara nods. Then she throws a hand up. “See, that’s why it’s so simple. It was simple when I figured it out. You’re my best friend, Lee. And we do everything together, and we tell each other everything, and we’ve been friends since our diaper days, like every stereotypical set of best friends.”

“I’m going to excuse that you said ‘diaper days’ just this once, because we’re supposed to be having a serious conversation.”

Kara smiles. “You’re my best friend, and I love everything about you. Your logical, convincing arguments, your perfect grammar, your admittedly very attractive physical appearance, and I would list them all out but I’m kinda lazy, so this is all you get for now.”

Lena laughs. “Typical Kara Danvers.”

Kara grins bashfully, looking down. “You know me as well as Alex does, if not better. And talking to you, being around you, is so easy. You’re like… like…” she pauses, trying to find the words.

“Your rock?”

“That analogy is weird,” Kara says, dismissing it with a wrinkle of her nose. “Okay, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. What I’m trying to say is that I’m in love with you, and you're, like, quite literally everything to me, and it’s really weird that I didn’t notice this sooner, but now I know. And so I’m telling you.”

“Evidently.” Lena doesn’t even bother to suppress her smile.

Kara’s lips curl downwards. “Stop attacking me. I like to think I’m already doing a good job at not freaking out.”

Lena nods. “I agree. In comparison to the mess you were earlier today and last night, there’s a vast improvement.”

Kara pouts. “I can’t believe you’re really targeting me like this.”

Lena laughs. “Okay, I’ll stop. I’m sorry.”

Kara smiles. “Apology accepted.” Then her nose scrunches up. “Okay, well, I’m done. That’s my speech. Oh wait, one more thing! I just wanna say that I would be a great match for you, because—”

“My mother loves you. I get it. Please stop.”

Kara grins. “She does, though.”

“Okay. Whatever. Anyway, I don’t really have a speech for you right now. I feel like you said everything for the both of us.”

“I’m just that good, huh?”

She gives Kara a look. “As I was saying,” she says emphatically, biting back a smile at the sight of Kara’s playful, happy grin. “I’m kinda, really in love with you too. I only realized it, like, three days ago. I don’t know if it was our hypothetical marriage or you laughing that made me realize it. I think it was both.”

“Aw, you realized you were in love with me because I was laughing?” Kara coos.

Lena narrows her eyes. “Just a few minutes ago you were dying of nervousness, and you don’t see _me_ making fun of you for anything you said.”

Kara moves closer to her, leaning forward. Her lips are stretched into a bright smile. “You’re just too adorable for me not to make fun of you.”

Lena wrinkles her nose. “To think I fell in love with a loser like this.”

“Well, you’re stuck with me now,” Kara says, grin widening. “We’re back to being engaged, by the way.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?”

Kara shakes her head. “Nope.”

Lena sighs, not bothering to fight back a smile. “How about we start with a relationship and work from there?”

Kara hums. “But Lillian loves me.”

“Irrelevant,” Lena deadpans. “Stop talking about my mother, we’re having a moment here.”

Kara smiles. “I really, really love you.”

“I really, really love you too.”

“A relationship sounds good,” Kara says, grinning. “It sounds great, actually.”

“It’s settled, then,” Lena agrees, sticking her hand out for Kara to shake.

Kara looks down at the hand, then back up at Lena with raised eyebrows. And suddenly Lena feels lips on hers. Her eyes shut on instinct, and she revels in the softness of Kara's lips, and the feeling of gentle fingers delicately tracing her jaw.

A few moments later, Kara pulls away, and Lena opens her eyes to see the blonde beaming at her.

“Seal it with a kiss, not a handshake, Lee. Keep up with the program.”

“I’ll admit, I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while now.”

Kara looks at her, unimpressed. “And yet you asked for a handshake. To make our relationship official.”

“Actually, I didn’t ask for anything,” Lena counters, smiling.

Kara’s eyebrows arch. “You really want to play it that way?”

“I really do.”

“Well, too bad, we can continue this discussion later. Or never. Because I’m your girlfriend now, so I get to kiss you whenever I want.”

Before Lena can reply, Kara leans forward, capturing her lips.

Perhaps silly quarrels and lame jokes are the pinnacle of their relationship, but Lena finds that she wouldn’t mind forgoing them once in a while (or all the time, really) if it means she could spend the time kissing Kara instead.

Kara pulls back an inch. “I heard kissing can burn, like, two to three calories per minute. And it increases your metabolism.”

Lena frowns. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I’m saying that making out with me can help you work on your summer body,” Kara says, grinning. Then she bursts into laughter, and Lena can’t help but smile.

Because holy shit, she’s so in love, and Kara just makes her feel so _happy_ , and honestly, Lena will probably cry when they get married.

Perhaps even the cake will be in _tiers_.

_Damn it, she really is rubbing off on me._


End file.
